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View Full Version : Any clonzepam/klonopin users for tapering advice



diamondgeezer65
09-09-17, 13:12
Hi all,
I originally posted about clonzepam/klonopin back in January. Unfortunately I stayed on this med due to my anxiety at 1mg a day (0.5mg x2). Well I have been tapering off it at a quarter of a tablet 0.125mg at time. It was all going pretty smoothly till I got down to 0.25mg which is half a tablet when I was hit by bad withdrawals. I'm just looking for advice on how to get off the last half, should I carry on at the same speed or slow right down? I need to get over the withdrawals as quickly as poss as need to get back to work as I have no job at the mo. My psych refuses to believe that 1mg can cause a great deal of dependency. I've been on benzobuddies site but its full of horror stories and just made me panic even more lol.

Dunkelheinburger
09-09-17, 13:21
I just posted a similar question

getting off that last bit is always tough. you need to be fully engaged in other activities to not think about it

ana
09-09-17, 17:05
Getting off Clonazepam is really difficult and I remember it was hell for me. However, carry on lowering the dose, maybe once every 3 weeks? I went from 0.5 once a day to zero by cutting the dose down once a month. My therapist said people usually took 10 days in between going down a dose, but that it would be better for me to go at a slower pace given that I'd been on the medication for 9 years.

diamondgeezer65
09-09-17, 19:01
Ok thanks for the replys. I have been reducing the dose every two weeks at the moment. Do you think reducing the last half into four quarter cuts would be slow enough?

Shazamataz
10-09-17, 10:27
You could drop doses slower, like 4 weeks? Give your body a chance to settle.

I ended up on diazepam for about 18 months. Got down from 4 to 2 and then was really unwell (not necessarily from the diazepam taper) and eventually found venlafaxine, which got my anxiety sorted.

I dropped another mg (half and then half) over a month or so and was then too scared to drop that last tiny 1mg. Eventually I just did it, actually at the same time as starting a new job after over a year off, and I didn't really notice anything except for the inabillity to sleep. So, I ended up on a small dose of quetiapine for sleep. Seems silly to add another med, but I was on zopiclone as well so have kind of replaces 2 meds with one. And quetiapine doesn't lose it's effectiveness like benzos do.

I really didn't have any anxiety withdrawals at all, maybe because I was busy and was determined?

ana
10-09-17, 18:06
Shaz, it might be that you were simply less addicted to it than I was as I was on it for 9 years. Also, you were on another medication whilst withdrawing. I wasn't on anything else at the time.

Diamond, why not take just one quarter for a few weeks before quitting altogether? The more gradual reduction, the better.

diamondgeezer65
10-09-17, 22:47
Yes I'm going to take the last half slowly ana by dividing it into four. Thank you very much for the advice. Much appricated.

Dunkelheinburger
11-09-17, 06:48
Hi DG

Yep I'll do the same as you initially. 0.125 every month till I get to 0.5 then stop a while

ana
11-09-17, 08:36
No problem, I'm glad I could help. :) Stay strong and determined, and you'll be off the medication in no time!

diamondgeezer65
11-09-17, 18:09
Good luck buang. Hopefully it you will have an easy time getting off.

Shazamataz
12-09-17, 09:21
Shaz, it might be that you were simply less addicted to it than I was as I was on it for 9 years. Also, you were on another medication whilst withdrawing. I wasn't on anything else at the time.

Yes, you are right. I do think it helps not to make a big deal about it, though. I worried for months about dealing with withdrawals and I just got to a point where I'd had enough of it and that motivated me to jump that final hurdle.

Halfway through tapering last year I ended up very unwell again and still don't know if it was withdrawals or mirtazipine pooping out, which I'm told is very common.

I guess my advice would be not to spend too much energy looking for withdrawal symptoms and then you may not notice them. I mentioned the adding in of quetiapine as I feel it has really helped as I sleep ok instead of not at all, which we all know makes anxiety worse.

Just keep at it and chip away slowly and you will get there :)

Dunkelheinburger
12-09-17, 13:39
When I came off xanax (twice) I used acupuncture to handle withdrawal symptoms and not being able to sleep. It worked. Only problem is that its ridiculously expensive outside Asia

ana
12-09-17, 19:25
I was on Xanax, too, but don't remember having any withdrawal symptoms. By far, Clonazepam was the worst to come off of. Zoloft was an unpleasant one to discontinue, too.

I agree with Shaz - just keep chipping away at it slowly. :) Know and accept that there will be days when you're going to be feeling poorly, but you've made the right decision for your overall health, and you should be proud of yourself.